Dee Forbes, the president and managing director of Discovery Networks Western Europe, has reached out to Irish production companies and called on them to pitch programme ideas to the network.
Forbes will make the callout to independent Irish production hubs a key theme in her Irish Film and Television Academy Annual Television Lecture, which she will deliver later tonight (September 27) in Dublin.
In an interview published in today’s Irish Times, Forbes –who hails from Drimoleague, Co Cork – said: “Typically, we are seen maybe as an American company and maybe people thought they had to go to the US to pitch. But we have a very strong production hub in London. I don’t see why the production companies we work with can’t come from Ireland as well.”
Discovery has a reported annual global programming budget exceeding $1bn (€780m) with Forbes heading up 17 factual and entertainment channels within the Discovery Networks stable.
There are 12 Discovery channels on Sky’s packages in Ireland and nine transmitted via UPC. Forbes told The Irish Times that there is “room for growth” in its presence in the Irish market.
Tonight’s Irish Film and Television Academy Annual Television Lecture is free and exclusive to Members of IFTA and will be chaired by Academy Member television producer David Malone,. For more information about joining IFTA and membership eligibility please click here.
Last year’s Inaugural Television Lecture was delivered by Stuart Murphy, director of Sky Entertainment Channels.
